World Cup Social Pavilion: Bharat Army's new chant for Vijay Shankar, Sarfaraz Ahmed ditching his PM's advice and more

Long before the battle lines were drawn, our very own Bharat Army welcomed the India vs Pakistan match with aplomb. They celebrated 20 years of the formation of the fan club which has been one of the driving forces of the team in the recent past wherever it plays.

It was quite the party at Manchester, as @thebharatarmy put on their dancing shoes ahead of 🇮🇳 v 🇵🇰. Our insider @PathakRidhima was part of the festivities.#TeamIndia #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/pKiBdMYyTQ

— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 16, 2019

Pakistan’s Wazir-E-Azam and World-Cup winning captain must have been disappointed by their Champions trophy-winning captain when he won the toss and opted to field first. Pakistan Cricket team were clearly trying to rebel without a plan.

4/5 1. In order ro have a winning offensive strategy Sarfaraz must go in with specialist batsmen and bowlers because "Raillu Kattas" rarely perform under pressure - especially the intense kind that will be generated today. 2. Unless pitch is damp, Sarfaraz must win the toss & bat

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 16, 2019

Just like a few of Pakistan fans who had no idea why they had to dress up like that.

So, even before the match began, their own captain took a jibe at their Prime Minister and a former legend and ICC were having a go at their fans. On an ideal day, things should’ve got better. But not in a world of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Reminder: It’s Rohit Sharma’s world and we’re just living in it. He pulls when he wants. He scores double centuries at will. He basically does everything he wants at his own discretion. So much so that every time he crosses the 100-run mark in an innings, talks of him scoring a double century begin. Not too bad, eh?

Virat Kohli also crossed the 11,000 run mark in just 222 innings. The probability of him breaking a new record is becoming increasingly obvious that we just have to shrug of these ‘little’ records. Or just yawn at them like his Pakistani counterpart did.

The play resumed after a brief stoppage due to rain and the Pakistan skipper was caught yawning. Not once but twice.

Needless to say, the trolling and memes followed. There was some resistance from their top order batsmen Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam who looked set in the middle after Imam-ul-Haq was trapped by Vijay Shankar. Oh and by the way, Bharat Army is probably Doctor Strange in disguise. Even before the teams were decided, the Bharat Army belted out a chant from their playlist in honour of the breakthrough star from Tamil Nadu.

🎵 Jay Jay Vijay Shankar, he'll pull away the bouncer, he's a batting all-rounder 🎵 @thebharatarmy has a special musical reception planned for one of its stars. pic.twitter.com/cziQUtyV1a

— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 16, 2019

Shankar and Pandya caused enough damage after Bhuvi was out due to a tight hamstring. Hardik Pandya was here, hardik pandya was there. Hardik Pandya was frigging flying. And he deserved to. Any chance of a Pakistani comeback or even the slightest talk of it was dismissed by the Mumbai Indians all-rounder.

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A post shared by Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) on Jun 16, 2019 at 9:45am PDT

However, it was the post-match stuff that actually lived up to the hype. There was humour and banter.

If Sarfaraz’s yawn became the talk of the hour, India’s player of the match Rohit Sharma brought his A-game or Mumbai-game of humour to the press conference.

Reporter: "What would you suggest to the Pakistani batsmen to come out of this crisis?"

Rohit Sharma: "If I ever become the coach for Pakistan, I will tell them"#INDvPAK #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/brrETRKGiu

— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) June 17, 2019

Shoaib Akhtar stood up on behalf of all the Pakistani fans. Only difference was that he took on the the players who actually performed well rather on taking on the skipper or Hasan Ali or senior players like Hafeez or Shoaib Malik. Here is a special clip of his monologue/rant/abuse/despair/grief.

Shoaib Akhtar destroying Babar Azam and Imam Ul Haq here😂🤣#INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/CAFsdqSu3H

— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) June 16, 2019

Also, Rishabh Pant and MSD’s daughter Ziva is all of us after the India’s win against Pakistan.

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A post shared by Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) on Jun 16, 2019 at 12:27pm PDT

While we wait for an official word from the Pakistan Prime Minister on the snub he got from the cricket team’s captain, here’s wishing you all a happy Monday at the office which, we hope, will mostly be spent reminiscing Rohit Sharma’s masterclass. Remember, it’s Rohit Sharma’s world. We’re just living in it. 

Monday mornings in office be like pic.twitter.com/425oheOVWh

— Akshar Pathak (@AksharPathak) June 17, 2019